


Should've Said No

by highfalutin baby birb (fevered_dreams)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 15:33:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15146210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevered_dreams/pseuds/highfalutin%20baby%20birb
Summary: Kaiba must team up with a rookie mage - who is clearly not the full-fledged sorcerer he claims to be - in order to save his younger brother from the evil clutches of Pegasus, the Lord of the Rose Kingdom.Or something like that.Either way, it's guaranteed to be a mess.





	Should've Said No

**Author's Note:**

> me to me: bitch are you starting another work when literally all of your other stories are unfinished and already rarely updated
> 
> me to me: YES i hate myself too don't worry
> 
> but yeah........ i told myself i wouldn't upload this until i finished it but like! 
> 
> i am such an impatient person RIP

The young man looked quite unimpressive, really. His clothes were ragged, skin slicked with sweat, and his hair was an absolute mess, haphazard and piled laughably high on such a slim figure. At the same time, his slightly tanned skin and golden features, nearly blinding under the high sun, were a easy on the eyes.

And, inexplicably, Kaiba was drawn to him.

"So?" the other man said invitingly, voice lilting as he fixed eager eyes on Kaiba's face. "How about it? You definitely look like you could use some help, after all."

"Why do you say that?" Kaiba asked instead of immediately walking away like he probably should have. He blamed it on the shine of the man's hair temporarily blinding him, making confused and disoriented.

"Well," the stranger began, giving Kaiba an unsubtle once-over that left Kaiba glaring in its wake, "you seem pretty torn up about something, scowling and grumbling to yourself like that. You're scaring the children, you know."

That was a lie; there were no children around. Not even Mokuba. Kaiba scowled even fiercer at the reminder.

"See, there you go," the man said, flicking his head impatiently Kaiba's direction. "What is it? Your girlfriend dump you? I'll admit, I'm really not that great at casting love charms, but I _can_ help you impress someone into falling back in love with you. For a fee, of course."

"What are you blabbering on about?" Kaiba asked.

"Hey, _you_ were the one who stopped in front of my booth so aggressively," the man huffed, brows furrowed as he pointed at the shabby sign that read ' **Sorcerer for Hire!!!** ' in obnoxiously bright and bold lettering. "And if you're going to insist on brooding right here and scaring away all my customers, I think it would be pretty great if you'd at least give me some business."

A quick sidelong glance to the side made it quite obvious that no one in the market seemed remotely interested in the man, apparently a sorcerer, or his services. "I don't think you have to worry about losing any business when you didn't have any to begin with."

With a petulant narrowing of his eyes and slick frown, the mage leaned away from Kaiba and crossed his arms angrily. "There's no need to be rude. Do you want my help or not?"

"And how exactly would you be able to help me?"

The sorcerer rolled his eyes with an aggravated sigh, pointing out his sign again despite the fact that it downright ugly. "I thought it would be pretty self-explanatory. I'm a sorcerer for hire, here to help you with any of your magical needs for the right price. Within reason, of course."

Kaiba must've lost all common sense after Mokuba's disappearance because he actually considered it for a moment. Magic users weren't too uncommon, but Kaiba didn't know many of them personally. Gozaburo had a strange aversion to them, so Kaiba hadn't interacted with many as a child. All of his recent efforts towards a professional relatonship with them, too, never resulted in much. The most he had ever managed was being able to hire them for temporary jobs before they went their separate ways.

Many of them were aloof and apprehensive, reluctant to trust others and even worse for Kaiba to trust them; they always had a shrewd air around them as they studied Kaiba, mind closed but eyes and ears open for any shred of information that might be useful in the future.

Kaiba supposed he couldn't really blame them, though. With all of the magical culling going around in not-too-distant kingdoms, it made sense for them to have grown increasingly wary over the past few decades.

All that just made this man's open and obvious plea for attention and money from selling his magical powers all the more strange.

And suspicious.

Not to mention, the blonde man didn't look nearly experienced or intelligent enough to be a sorcerer, which only served to make Kaiba even more suspicious.

"What kind of magical skills do you have?" Kaiba asked.

"Oh, well," the man stuttered, fumbling as he refused to meet Kaiba's eyes directly as he spoke. "My affinities lay primarily with fire and wind magic, with a bit of time magic. For everything else... it depends," he finished lamely.

"That's it?" Kaiba questioned incredulously.

The awkward silence that breezed around them told Kaiba his suspicions were correct. With only a small handful of magical tendencies under his control, the man was more like an amateur mage than a full-fledged sorcerer.

Still, his affinity for time magic was interesting.

"Yes, _but,_ " the man hastily replied, crowding himself into Kaiba's face once more, "I'm pretty good with the stuff I have an affinity for, and it's not like I can _never_ perform spells with the other elemental tendencies. So, it's not a huge deal."

Kaiba didn't believe that for a damn second, but his curiosity got the best of him.

"How about giving me a demonstration, then?" Kaiba asked.

The man's face brightened, his eyes widening excitedly. "Alright, no problem! Be prepared to be amazed!"

With a line like that, Kaiba was beginning to wonder if he would be witnessing cheap tricks rather than actual magic. At least he hadn't given away any money yet.

The man picked up a small pile of foliage from a corner of his stall and showed it to Kaiba before quickly setting fire to it. The magic alighted almost instantly, and he was unbothered by the carefully contained flames that he was generating. After a few moments, a harsh, pointed gust of wind flew across them over the flame, feeding the embers into something larger. The mage allowed Kaiba a few more moments to watch the fire grow and lick the air greedily before withdrawing the flames, leaving behind the sizzling remnants of leaves and a gentle waft of cinder smoke wafting around them.

Admittedly, Kaiba was pretty impressed by the casual speed and ease with which the young man manipulated his magic; the tendencies with which he had any proficiency with were limited, but at least he handled them well.

The mage looked satisfied with himself, too. He flashed Kaiba a wide grin, his previous stiff sheepishness ebbing away in favor of carefree confidence. "See? Not too bad, huh?" His grin glittered under the sun, the little creases forming in the crinkle of his eyes joyous, all proud and pleased. He might as well have been preening for how happy he looked.

"What about your time magic?" Kaiba asked. "Can you show me some of that?"

Once again, the blonde floundered, face falling and gaze shifting to the sight once more. "Uh, well, let's see..." he muttered, turning away from Kaiba to fumble with something else in his tiny, cluttered stall. After a bit of rummaging, he turned back around to hand Kaiba a worn-out bowl. "Here, hold this, and, when I tell you to, let it go. I'll stop it before it reaches the ground."

Kaiba took the bowl from the man's hands, but not without a skeptical squint and an uptick of his eyebrow. He wasn't sure exactly how well this would go. Either the man's magic would work perfectly, leaving Kaiba surprisingly impressed, or it would completely fail.

Kaiba would wholeheartedly bet his money on the latter.

In the end, the mage was ultimately able to demonstrate _some_ time magic. Except, the bowl still fell to the floor and shattered after Kaiba dropped it. What _was_ frozen, though, was Kaiba himself.

His reluctant awe was overshadowed by his overwhelming annoyance and anger. He hoped his face was at least frozen in rage.

"Oh, shit," the blond hissed, crouching down to pick up the pieces of the broken bowl. "Umm... but don't worry! It should wear off soon, I think." His words stumbled over his flustered tongue, and he didn't look entirely convinced with his own assurances, if his wide, shifty eyes were any indication.

The enchantment thankfully did wear off after a few moments, right in time for Kaiba to tower over the other man menacingly as he continued to clean up the shattered bowl. "That didn't go as planned, now did it?" Kaiba asked coolly.

The man looked up at Kaiba with a pinched smile, eyes nervous. "Maybe not, but it still kinda worked, didn't it?"

Kaiba supposed he couldn't entirely argue against that, even though his limbs still felt stiff after being stilled like that.

"Anyway, since you went through all that trouble to ask for that demonstration, there must be something that you need help with, right? Why don't you tell me about it, and I'll see if I can help."

Kaiba should have just walked away, but he couldn't bring himself to walk away. Maybe it was his recent lack of sleep. Maybe it was the desperation.

Maybe it was the big, bright smile overtaking the stranger's face, highlighting his youthful handsomeness, full and golden under the broad daylight.

"I need to travel to the Rose Kingdom," Kaiba said. "I have to confront its ruler to save my brother."

A swollen and heavy pause washed over them as the blonde stared at Kaiba, expression blank. Kaiba stared back, determined and steadfast.

Finally, the man managed to find his footing. "I'm not sure this is something I would consider to be _within reason_."

"I'll pay you well," Kaiba said, taking out his pouch of coins and opening it up to show the man the hefty pile of gold coins inside. "At least this much, possibly more if you're more helpful than you look."

That mage was so taken by the gold coins that he didn't even react to Kaiba's insult. Still, he wasn't entirely convinced. "What exactly do you mean by 'confront', though?"

"Whatever it takes to get my brother back," Kaiba answered sharply, "even if that means killing him."

The blond sucked in a sharp breath, moving back at the same time. His face didn't hold the same excitement as it did when Kaiba had first shown him the coins, but there will still a sort of pensive look glittering in his eyes.

"You could probably hire a more skilled sorcerer for that price," the blonde noted.

Kaiba held back to the urge to remind him that, with his limited magical skills, he could hardly be considered much of a sorcerer himself. "Trying to convince someone highly-skilled to work according to your will is risky in itself. They tend to be more preoccupied by their own desires, I've found."

The stranger conceded before asking, "Is the Rose Kingdom the nation to the North or to the West?"

"To the North," Kaiba replied blandly. "The one to the West is the _Rouge_ Kingdom."

"Right, right... And the kingdom to the North is the one with all the advanced healing and medicinal skills..." the mage murmured to himself, crossing his arms as he cocked his head to the side. "Oh! But isn't the Rose Kingdom quite difficult to gain entry to? I heard that their border security is notoriously strict."

"It shouldn't too difficult for us to get past the border. I produce goods that are sold throughout several of the nations on the continent, and I have clearance to travel to most of them."

"Even if you're bringing someone along with you?"

"I'm certain I could convince someone to let you in, too, if necessary."

The man fell silent again, eyes fixed upwards, considering. Then, with a sharp nod to himself, another wide smile danced across his face as he set his attentions back on Kaiba. "How about this: I accompany you to the capital of the Rose Kingdom, but I _refuse_ to get caught up in any mess that involves the ruler of another nation. You don't even have to pay me the full price. Does three-quarters of that bag's gold sound good?"

Kaiba should've said no. Even if he wasn't completely useless, the mage was still obviously green - young and likely inexperienced. Who knew if he even had had any proper training from an actual sorcerer before then?

Except, the Rose Kingdom, beyond its harsh border patrol and impressive healing arts, was also home to a number of magic refugees. No doubt, Pegasus probably had plenty of them under his employ, and Kaiba had no idea what to do against them. Even if the mage wouldn't be with Kaiba when he actually went to confront Pegasus, at least he might be able to provide Kaiba with some tips along the way.

"I accept," Kaiba said after some deliberation.

The mage's eyes alighted with delight as he surged forward to grip onto Kaiba in a sidelong hug. Kaiba struggled against it until he was relinquished, but the other man didn't seem deterred by being rebuffed.

"It's a deal then! I'll be ready to head off in no time at all, if you are," the mage said, already rummaging around his stall. "But first thing's first - my name is Jounouchi."

Jounouchi extended his hand out to Kaiba, calloused fingers and scratched palm reaching for Kaiba's.

Kaiba took it. "Kaiba."

Jounouchi's grip was firm, and the heat of a slowly roiling fire lay under the surface. It warmed Kaiba from his fingertips down and pooled lazily at the pit of his stomach, and Kaiba wondered what he had just gotten himself into.

 

* * *

 

 

"So, Pegasus has your brother?" Jounouchi asked a few days into their journey. "Did either of you do anything to him? I've heard before that Pegasus is a bit of a nut, but nothing else to suggest he's all that bad of a person."

It was an innocent question, one that made sense considering that fact that Kaiba had enlisted Jounouchi's help for his efforts to rescue Mokuba. So, it wasn't surprising that Jounouchi wanted to know more about it.

Except, Kaiba felt skinned raw at the thought of Mokuba. Every little thing that floated his way, from the cool drizzle, the gently whipping winds, to Jounouchi's carefree smiles and casual questions ripped his nerves apart to shreds, and the only thing he could feel in their absence was anger that flooded his body with pinpricks of cold defeat.

He wanted to scream, but the way that the heavy, encroaching mist wore down at his throat made it impossible.

How could he let Mokuba be taken away? Why hadn't he done more to stop it?

"Kaiba?" Jounouchi voiced quietly at the lack of a response. "Are you ok? Are you feeling sick from the rain?"

When he finally managed to dislodge the razor in his throat, Kaiba responded roughly, "That's none of your business." The words came out harshly, jagged ice shards flying out of his mouth.

Jounouchi bristled at the cold response. "Excuse me? _You_ are the one who tried to convince me to go against Pegasus, the Lord of the Rose Kingdom for the sake of your brother, but it's none of my business?"

"But you're not going to confront Pegasus with me to find my brother, and I'm not paying you for that. We agreed on that. So you don't need to know, and you have no reason to ask," Kaiba spat out, voice threatening and mean.

Jounouchi opened his mouth. Then, he closed it. His eyes blazed indignantly, and he turned his nose up at Kaiba with the ease of a petulant child. He even let out a very loud scoff that was clearly audible over the rain and wind.

For as cold and cruel Kaiba could be, even he knew that he was being unfair towards Jounouchi. The wound from having Mokuba taken from him, though, from right under his nose, was too much to bare without stoking a flame of rage to burn it down.

And he was too eased by the resulting silence and lack of mention of Mokuba to care.

Otherwise, Jounouchi proved himself to not be too annoying of a traveling companion, which Kaiba was immensely grateful for. He didn't complain too much and didn't shy away from manual labor to help maintain the carriage.

He was even good at handling Amelda. The damn horse hated Kaiba but was enough of a glutton to walk for at least a few hours if Kaiba fed him enough. Except, he was starting to get a bit too heavy for Kaiba's liking from all the bribes. With Jounouchi handling him, Kaiba didn't have to worry as much about having to buy a new horse altogether because he had fed Amelda to the brink of uselessness.

Maybe it was because Amelda could tell that Jounouchi was the one conjuring up those gentle winds that kept them cool under the shimmering sun. It was greatly welcomed, even if Jounouchi couldn't keep them blowing for long stretches at a time.

Or perhaps Amelda was just petty.

Now the only glutton amongst them was Jounouchi.

One complaint that Kaiba did have was Jounouchi's fascination with almost everything they passed by. For each new town, Jounouchi insisted on stopping by the market or the square.

"It's to see if we can get any useful information from people," Jounouchi would argue as he tried to force the carriage through the crowd, leaving Kaiba in the back to watch over their supplies. "People love to gossip about anything and everything, so you never know what you might end up overhearing."

It wasn't necessarily a lie, but that definitely was not the main reason that Jounouchi was so intent on exploring each town they went through. He was curious, running around examining everything like a pup who had just learned how to walk.

It reminded Kaiba too much of Mokuba, he could hardly stand it.

At least Jounouchi had managed to haggle a brimming handful strong healing potions and enchanted crystals from an actual sorcerer for only a few silver coins.

"I can perform a few healing spells if I have to, but they're all pretty basic and use up a lot of my energy," Jounouchi explained as he dumped his new wares into the back of the carriage, "so these should be of help to use later on."

"I thought that whole point of hiring you was so that you would use your magic to prevent injuries," Kaiba said. One of the crystals in particular, a white stone with blue streaks across its jagged surface, caught his eye.

"Of course! But accidents happen, you know, and there's no reason not to be prepared for them."

The same pattern continued as they made their way north through Domino Kingdom. Kaiba didn't even complain about it as they approached the edge of the mountain forests that separated Domino Kingdom from the Rose Kingdom. Towns and villages were sparse the closer they got to the border, so Kaiba had little qualms with stocking up on supplies and Jounouchi's childish attempts at gaining information from the locals.

On the other hand, Kaiba didn't understand why Jounouchi was so adamant at hanging around a large merchant town called Plume.

"Jounouchi, I sincerely hope you're not wasting my time," Kaiba argued, teeth bared as his voice dipped into a snarl. "We do not have the luxury to laze away in a random town because you're just so fascinated with its market plaza. I didn't peg you for someone bad with money, seeing as you didn't have much of it before tagging along with me."

"Will you calm down and just listen to me?" Jounouchi hissed in return, eyes narrow and mouth thin. "For someone who likes to act all cool and aloof all the time, you sure are dramatic. Look, I know someone who frequent this town often who should be here this evening. I think they'll have some information that could be helpful to us before we reach the mountains. One more day on an already long journey isn't much, at the end of the day."

Kaiba's glare didn't subside, but he did relax his shoulders to sit back at Jounouchi's explanation. In turn, Jounouchi let his own expression soften as he spoke again, voice lighter. "Look, I know that you want to go and get your brother back as soon as possible, and we will. I promise. I also want to get to the Rose Kingdom soon."

Kaiba didn't respond. Instead, he sat down on the bed of their rented room heavily, burying his head in his hands. He wanted to be left alone for some time until Jounouchi's mysterious friends finally arrived.

Despite his usual unaware attitude, Jounouchi had enough sense to leave the room quietly and let Kaiba be.

If someone asked had him about it a few months ago, Kaiba would say he relationship with Pegasus was, if nothing else, stable. Pegasus had worked alongside Gozaburo to procure magical weapons, but he still bought Kaiba's Goods when Kaiba had started developing recreational toys and communication devices. In fact, Pegasus had been one of the major buyers of Kaiba's new wares, making the Rose Kingdom a very profitable place for the both of them. Pegasus had only ever had limited interaction with Mokuba, but he seemed vaguely fond of him regardless.

So, Kaiba could not fathom why Pegasus would suddenly have Mokuba kidnapped while demanding that Kaiba steer clear of the Rose Kingdom for the foreseeable future.

"Fuck," Kaiba muttered to himself, falling back against the bed with a soft thump, "I should have had a sorcerer strengthen the wards on Mokuba's room."

Kaiba's thoughts were interrupted by a swift knocking at the door. He sat up, briefly wiping at his eyes in case he looked less than presentable. Moments later, Jounouchi entered, an attractive blonde woman trailing in close behind him.

"Hello there," the woman said, voice strong and smooth as she walked over to the other bed, "My name is Mai. I hear you and Jounouchi are heading over to the Rose Kingdom."

"Yes," Kaiba said, "and Jounouchi has implied that you might by privy to some information that might be helpful to us."

"Mai is a traveling merchant," Jounouchi cut in, "and a pretty successful one, too. She recently visited the Rose Kingdom, so I thought she might have some insight into whether or not there's anything strange going on there or the roads leading up to it."

"Not successful enough to bring you along with me, unfortunately." Mai said as she sat down with a shrug. She gave Kaiba a quick once-over before continuing. "From what I've heard from Jounouchi, you're thinking of going up against Lord Pegasus, of all people."

Kaiba gave her a short nod in reply.

"Well, I don't always have the chance to work directly with Pegasus, but this time I was able to speak to him for a bit. He was even more eccentric than usual, which proved annoying at times." Mai sighed. "I noticed a nervous air stirring around him despite how hard he tried to maintain his normal posh idiosyncrasies, and it felt like he was constantly looking out for something."

"Were you able to see or hear about anything that hinted towards why he was acting that way?" Jounouchi asked.

"I can't say that I noticed anything that would've triggered that kind of attitude in someone like Pegasus who's usually so nonchalant. Security _was_ stricter than usual, though. The wards, too, felt stronger," Mai said.

That made sense, if Pegasus was trying to keep Mokuba locked away until Kaiba was allowed to re-enter the Rose Kingdom.

Kaiba doubted Pegasus would just casually parade Mokuba around after going through all the time and effort to kidnap him, but Kaiba felt compelled to ask about him anyway. "Did you happen to see a young adolescent boy while you were there? With long black hair and gray eyes?"

"I can't say that I did," Mai answered, gaze still fixed on Kaiba's face, searching for answers to whatever questions were running through her mind. When she couldn't find any, she continued speaking. "Sorry."

"Do you have any other information?" Jounouchi asked, jumping back into the conversation eagerly. "How were the roads?"

"Annoying as usual," Mai sighed with a roll of her eyes, "but not too terrible. I did hear about a few strange things, but I didn't encounter anything beyond the usual troubles."

"And what do you mean by a 'few strange things'?" Kaiba asked.

"I heard some rumors about a roaming bandit gang wreaking havoc and causing panic everywhere, but I didn't see anything like that." Mai shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulders. "And you know what people around the border are like - they love spreading rumors like those to keep people away."

"You'd think all the guards would be enough," Jounouchi muttered.

"Anyway, I think you two should be fine," Mai said, rising from the bed. "But here, take this, just in case. It'll help you get out of any nasty spells or traps that you might run into."

She handed Jounouchi a large feather that gleamed green whose form seemed to shimmer in and out of existence as it fluttered. It was obviously something nice, and a bit wasted on someone like Jounouchi, in Kaiba's opinion.

”You plucked off a harpie’s feather?” Jounouchi asked, voice filled with wonder.

"Who do you take me for? Of course I didn’t. I did a few harpies a favor and sold them some pretty trinkets, and they gave me a few of their feathers in return.” Her purple eyes shined indigniantly. “And _don't_ immediately sell it off like you did with those nice perfumes I gave you," Mai huffed at Jounouchi. "If you still had those, too, I bet this whole journey of yours would go much smoother. Charming people goes a long way, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Jounouchi dismissed, voice barely more than a gust of wind as he continued to marvel at the feather in his hand. "I'll keep this one near and dear to my heart until I really need it."

"Good," Mai said curtly, finally sparing Kaiba a sidelong glance. Her gaze was appraising, eyes roving up and down Kaiba's figure as if wondering how much of his money she could smooth-talk into her pockets, before breaking her gaze at the site of Kaiba's returning glare. "Hopefully you won't even need it at all, though."

"Hopefully," Kaiba echoed as he watched Jounouchi tuck the feather away carefully in a hidden pocket, "this whole debacle can be settled without any trouble."

 

* * *

 

 

Of course, the whole debacle could not be settled without any trouble. Apparently, the source of panic within the forest was a man who actually went by the name Panik.

It was cliche, and Kaiba had imagined that it only happened in children's stories, but when they first stumbled upon the man, he had announced loudly, "Hey fellas, it looks like we have some visitors for me, Panik! And we all know how I like to greet visitors."

Jounouchi even barked out a quick incredulous snort before they started running.

Panik was a grotesque-looking man who didn't seem very intelligent, from the brief glimpse Kaiba was able to get and his incomprehensible habit of announcing himself to the very travelers he was trying to catch. Nonetheless, he was surprisingly quick on his feet for someone so large.

"Why don't you just use your fire magic on him?" Kaiba asked as he ran beside Jounouchi away from Panik and his fast-approaching band of men. "Or wind? Or anything?"

"Look, I didn't think I would have to point this out to you, but we are stuck in the middle of a forest here. I can't just go around throwing my fire magic without properly aiming at them, or we'll all be burnt to crisp. The same goes for wind, too. Without any specific target, I'd have to use a gust of wind large enough to uproot the whole damn forest to knock that guy's huge fucking ass down," Jounouchi yelled back. His legs were a bit shorter than Kaiba's, but he didn't seem to have a problem keeping up.

"Some sorcerer you are," Kaiba hissed as they both turned a quick corner. Though, to be fair, Jounouchi had managed to cast a basic invisibility spell on Amelda and their carriage with the help from one of the crystals he had bought, so he had managed to do something to ward off the bandits from all of their supplies.

At the same time, the effort would be ultimately useless if they weren't able to get away. At least Amelda would probably enjoy the freedom.

"Hey, if you weren't so obviously uppity and rich, maybe they wouldn't be chasing us so intensely!"

Kaiba didn't have time to respond as they both made another sudden turn, this time lead by Jounouchi. As their pursuers drew closer, Jounouchi conjured up a few breezes to rack across the ground to cover up the sound of their footsteps, which also served to create a number of false trails. Still, there were so many bandits surrounding them, it seemed as though they would never be able to completely escape detection.

Just as Kaiba was about to start wondering how long they would be able to keep this up, a bright light blinded him and sent him reeling. To his left, he also heard Jounouchi let out a shocked wail and, without thinking, Kaiba reached out to make sure that Jounouchi was still there. The feeling of Jounouchi's wiry arm within his grip made Kaiba feel strangely comforted, even though Jounouchi had so far proved himself to not really be worth all the effort _or_ gold Kaiba had spent on him.

When Kaiba's vision finally cleared enough for him to properly see past the rapidly flashing green twinkles behind his eyelid, he was faced with the sight of several large, bright swords that seemed to be fashioned from pure light surrounding him and Jounouchi.

"What is this?" Kaiba asked Jounouchi, who was also beginning to come to his senses.

" _Very_ advanced magic," Jounouchi breathed. He looked a bit awed, which Kaiba didn't think fit the situation much, but then his gaze was overtaken with concern that Kaiba decided he appreciated even less. "But I didn't feel any magic on any of those guys, so it must have been cast in a gem or crystal that they were able to call out later."

Kaiba didn't really understand entirely what Jounouchi was saying, but he figured he understood most of it. "So you think someone helped them do this?"

"Not just any random someone though," Jounouchi said. His eyes seemed to gleam with an even brighter luster of gold under the intense brilliance from the swords, so Kaiba could see clearly the furl of tense apprehension that snaked across them. "It must have been either an extremely skilled magic-wielder or someone incredibly rich. Probably both, in fact."

"It was probably just some wealthy merchant trying to keep the roads clear of competition," Kaiba said impatiently. The sound of footsteps were drawing closer by the second, and he was sure that their assailants would find them soon. It wasn't particularly hard when they were encased by what amounted to a giant beacon of trouble. "Either way, we can worry about that later after we get out. Can't you use your magic to do something about these things? Use some strong winds to dig them out from the ground, or something?"

Slowly and sadly, Jounouchi shook his head. "I told you, this stuff is extremely advanced. These swords have the ability to hinder one's magic if that person isn't as strong as the one who originally cast the spell, and, well..." Jounouchi trailed off lamely.

"Some sorcerer you are."

"I don't see _you_ doing anything about it!" Jounouchi argued.

Kaiba opened his mouth, ready to hiss out his own heated response, but he was interrupted by several figures stepping in front of them.

Panik, it seemed, was even uglier than Kaiba had first thought.

"Well, well, look what we have here," Panik drawled, leaning down to leer at them. "A haughty rich boy and a feisty little mage, huh?"

"I told you you look too rich," Jounouchi said between clenched teeth, tossing his head Kaiba's direction angrily.

"At least my money is more useful than your magic."

"Hey!" Panik's voice was loud and not at all pleasant. "What do you think you're doing, ignoring me! Trying to make me look like a fool, huh?" He stared down at them again. "I would punish the two of you for that, but you're both too pretty. It'd be a waste to ruin the merchandise like that."

Kaiba was able to hide his disgust towards Panik's insinuation, but he could see Jounouchi body tense up tight.

Panik only grew bolder at the reaction. He leaned forward even further, his monstrous features illuminated hideously by the swords. "Oh, does the little mage not like that? Don't worry, I bet if you whimper and beg nicely enough, your clients won't be _too_ mean to you."

Evidently, Panik had only been paying attention to Jounouchi's body language without taking the time to note the infuriated look in Jounouchi's eyes. Instead of cowering, as Panik had likely anticipated, Jounouchi jumped forwards, snarling. Kaiba could practically see Jounouchi's hackles raised, as if Jounouchi were some poorly trained dog lashing out at its cruel owner.

In that moment, Kaiba struggled to see Jounouchi as 'pretty', but he couldn't deny that Jounouchi had something distinctly intriguing about him. A bit wild, but ultimately sweet, like a baby wolf he hadn't yet gone out on his first hunt.

Impossible to fully tame, but people still tried. 

His obtrusive thoughts were interrupted by Jounouchi's voice this time, much nicer on the ears than Panik's.

"Oh, _fuck_ you!" Jounouchi's teeth were bared, his stance fierce. He reached an arm towards the edge of the circle in an attempt to grab ahold of Panik, barely flinching as his skin sizzled upon contact with one of the swords. "You really think we're just going to sit back and let you pimp us out?"

"No, of course not," Panik said mockingly. "It's so much more fun when you fight."

Jounouchi just snarled again. He looked at Kaiba for some kind of moral support, but Kaiba was too preoccupied trying to come up with an escape plan to return it to Jounouchi's liking.

Apparently, Jounouchi's magic was useless within the circle of light swords. Without it, Jounouchi was just a regular human, and Kaiba wasn't much stronger, at the end of the day. Furthermore, the swords apparently also could hurt them upon contact, and they had left behind all of their potentially useful items with Amelda and the carriage, which they had no access to.

That damn friend of Jounouchi's, Mai, had claimed to have not encountered any trouble. For all that time spent in Plume, there was little reward. Was she just lucky, or were they just unlucky? 

Except -

Abruptly, Kaiba leapt towards Jounouchi and reached his hand under Jounouchi's shirt.

For a moment, everyone was silent, Jounouchi left so surprised that he didn't even react. Then, just as Jounouchi opened his mouth, inhaling to prepare himself for what Kaiba was sure would be some inane protest that he did not have the patience for, Kaiba found what he had been looking for.

"Here," Kaiba huffed, thrusting the feather into Jounouchi's hands, "I don't know how to use it."

"Oh," Jounouchi said dumbly before breaking out into a grin. "Kaiba, you're a genius!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes at the statement, but he wasn't sure that Jounouchi had gotten the chance to see it as the swords flashed even brighter as a large gust of wind rolled over them. In fact, it was so intense that Kaiba was sure it would knock him off his feet, but he and Jounouchi remained safely grounded as the swords shuddered and finally shattered in front of them.

Panik's men, on the other hand, had lost their footing from the gale flying overhead, but Panik, with all his massive bulk, had managed to weather it. As soon as the swords finally broke, though, Jounouchi hurled a few sparks their way, one blaze aimed directly at Panik's face.

Kaiba hadn't bothered to stay and watch to see exactly the effect of Jounouchi's magic before he hauled himself and Jounouchi up, feet already moving. The brief flash of fire that he had caught from the corner of his eye, alongside the pained screams of the bandits, were both intimidating and impressive.

"Just how useless are you?" Kaiba asked angrily, finally releasing his group on Jounouchi's wrist now that Jounouchi was firmly on his own feet. "To have forgotten about that feather your friend gave you?"

"It's not like you didn't forget about the harpie feather at first, too! Besides, you still would've been helpless and probably sold off to some gross old man without me to use the feather and distract Panik and his men with magic!"

"I don't know if I would describe throwing fire into people's faces as just a _distraction_."

"Maybe not, but it gets the job done."

Not to mention, Kaiba would've struggled to find their hidden carriage without Jounouchi guiding him, but he didn't want to admit that either. Instead, the two of them hastily climbed atop it when they finally reached it in silence.

Amelda most likely didn't entirely know what Kaiba and Jounouchi had just escaped from, but he also appeared quite eager to get out of that damn forest. He galloped away quickly with minimal urging, sending the carriage lurching for a second from the sudden movement before they were on their way.

"Still," Kaiba finally said from his seat on the carriage, "this is not what I anticipated when I hired you to help me."

"But it can only go uphill from here, right?" Jounouchi called back from over his shoulder, dirty blonde hair whipping across his still slightly-soft face that only showed off his wide smile in haphazard snippets as moonrays gleamed across his face.

Kaiba had never been one to steep himself in unfounded optimism after all the disappointments he had previously suffered through, but he couldn't help but give a tired, tentative smile back.

And maybe Jounouchi really was a bit pretty.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope it's not too all over the place? i'm trying to make this story a bit more fast-paced so it can be short enough that i can actually finish it LOL
> 
> but like me finishing a story is such a joke :')
> 
> anyway, please let me know what you think!
> 
> thanks for reading


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